On the deck.
Ahd felt like he was about to cry.
He had imagined being ignored by the higher-ups of Dewensen for failing the mission. After all, no one in the territory could bear such a heavy responsibility. But he never imagined that he might actually have a chance to return ho again.
Only to discover he had sohow beco the general he’d always aspired to be!
And damn it, he was posthumously honored!
All the Elves, including the Lord and the Elf King, treated him, Ahd, as if he were already dead!
What crushed him beyond acceptance was the sudden boldness and Greed of the Elves led by Otis. Lucky for him, he had a good mory, rembering Otis, the vile creature who’d yearly offered him female Elves, yet was unworthy to even carry his shoes.
But now, this fool planned to pass him off as a Drow to take credit for patrol achievents!
His head was only slightly singed by Dragon Breath, dammit! His body was still of a High Elf’s whiteness! Yet this band of avaricious fools turned a collective blind eye!
Who could understand this kind of suffocating frustration?!!!
Having harbored thoughts of defecting at the right mont, he imdiately lifted his chin, deciding to cast his lot with the Red Dragon, co what may.
He puffed up his chest, glared at the gathering Elves, and declared,
"Get out of my way!
"A bunch of greedy idiots!
"I am the nephew and heir of the Silver Wheel lordship.
"A Viscount personally ennobled by His Majesty the Elf King Ailiando.
"The supre commander of Dewensen’s Seventh Fleet.
"Rohel Ahd Solitas!
"If you dare to impersonate as a Drow for military achievents, wait for death, each one of you!"
The crew of High Elves, called out on their underlying intentions, were imdiately stunned by the string of titles, delivered with such fluency and natural continuity, like the half-human court chefs reeling off dish nas. The delivery was so practiced, the continuity so natural, the pride and arrogance so palpable—this wasn’t sothing one could master without decades of daily repetition.
Even a Drow disguised as a High Elf might fool so, but to deceive the eyes of all High Elves? No ordinary Drow could accomplish that.
In an eerie silence, it was the cautious captain of the patrol who finally said, "Umm... fellow kinsman, do you have sothing to prove your identity? After all, the obituary of General Ahd has been distributed nationally for quite so ti, and we find it hard to simply take your word for it."
"No."
Ahd furrowed his brow and explained, "Our fleet was about to reach the Old Continent port when the Crimson Calamity awakened, causing a volcanic eruption that led to the annihilation of our entire army. Only I escaped..."
He had only recited half of what David had coached him when he realized sothing was amiss!
Suddenly, he saw a sinister smile flash across Otis’s lips.
Damn it! This guy is trying to trap , planning to pull off the sa trick, proclaiming dead without proof and taking credit again!
"Do it, kill this Drow trying to impersonate General Ahd."
"Yes!"
With the sound of swords being drawn, a group of High Elves, for the sake of profit and their own safety, raised their blades against a Noble they once could only look up to! Their intention was probably to hack him to mince, destroying all evidence, to prevent retaliation should he sohow make it ho.
Ahd, whose injuries had not fully healed over the lengthy captivity, watched the glint of nurous swords descending upon him and deeply regretted his oversight.
He had been too careless!
It’s over!
Just as Ahd resigned himself to his fate, thinking he would perish on this spot re miles from the New Continent, ho, a whooshing sound approached.
A crisp snap, and over ten raised Elven swords were simultaneously broken and flung into the air along with the bird’s nest wig atop Ahd’s head, only to leisurely fall back down.
Instantly, two unfortunate elves were impaled by the falling blades. One of them was particularly unlucky, struck right on the crown of his head. He slumped to the ground, clutching the broken blade embedded there, which threatened to shift and dislodge itself at any mont. Bleeding profusely, he frantically called out, "Druid! A Druid, save !"
"A... a dragon! How is there a dragon on the ship?!"
David, having just poked his head out of the cabin and flicked his tail to break the line of swords, almost scared the urine out of all the Elves on board. Their combat effectiveness was one thing, but the terrifying destructive power of a dragon could make them all take an icy sea bath in minutes. Not one of them had the strength or endurance to swim back to land from here.
"Wait! It’s a Silver Dragon, a Silver Dragon hatchling! Stop! Everybody stop!"
Even the proudest of High Elves dared not mistake a Silver Dragon for one of the Chromatic Dragons, especially one clearly still a hatchling. Although High Elves didn’t openly ally with Silver Dragons, these creatures, who enjoyed taking human or High Elf forms, maintained ambiguous relations. These relations extended to the Church of the Magic Goddess, the Hall of Justice, and even so Elven deities.
To offend an Elven Noble might, at worst, an resignation, exile, or seeking refuge with kin. Failing that, one could beco an adventurer or rcenary among the human nations of Central Earth to make a living.
But to accidentally kill a Silver Dragon hatchling...
They didn’t even dare contemplate the horrific outco.
The High Elf sailors had barely recovered from the shock of "Silver Dragon David’s" appearance when the sight of two Drow erging behind him made them reflexively raise their broken blades again.
"Drow! Why are there Drow?! And Barbarians too?"
"And what on earth is this Winter Wolf that keeps baring its teeth at them?"
They were completely flummoxed by the motley crew aboard the ship!
"Relax, these fellows have been converted by my righteous and benevolent influence," David reassured. As he surveyed the sea of bewildered and hesitant High Elves, he swished his tail past the foreheads of Hiatt and the Drow mage, revealing two faintly glowing silver magical marks.
The sight of this made Otis and the other leading High Elves almost spit blood on the spot.
Indeed, they had been converted!
The thod of conversion... was truly magical indeed!
It was two Magic Slavery Contracts, no less.
And they’d actually been used on Drow!
These extravagant and foolish acts could probably only be pulled off by the financially powerful Silver Dragons.
At the sa ti, the High Elves felt a growing unease.
As expected, the Silver Dragon strutted over to Ahd, the High Elf who was on the verge of collapse. The Dragon placed a claw gently on Ahd’s shoulder, then, with a forceful pat that made him kneel on the spot, declared loudly,
"As for this officer, Ahd, I saved him by the sea, and he brought back from the Old Continent.
"He and I are benefactors to each other and dear friends who trust each other with our lives.
"To save a Silver Dragonling stranded abroad and bring him back to the Continent, especially given your High Elves’ love for grand achievents...
"Shouldn’t he be hailed a hero?
"And then celebrate with a grand triumphal ceremony, greeted by Elves along the way with celebrations and flowers?"
"Well..." The High Elves were dumbfounded, exchanging glances. While the reasoning might indeed be sound, they had never seen such a shalessly thick-skinned Silver Dragon.
Besides, Ahd had told them their entire Seventh Fleet had been wiped out—hold a triumphal ceremony? The families of the fallen Elves who had just been pacified with so condolence money would go ballistic and flip the military headquarters’ roof and tear down its treetop canopies!
"However, dear Silver Dragon friend, we still lack direct evidence to confirm that this Mr... Ahd, is indeed our fallen General Ahd," a voice interjected.
"Just call Prince Saphistouin. As for evidence, isn’t that simple? Who was it that we should find?"
The Drow glanced aningfully at a High Elf, prompting Ahd to quickly say, "Let’s go directly to Attilicia, the residing Priest of Saeolus City’s Hall of Justice."
David took over the conversation contentedly, saying, "Right, we’ll just have that Priest cast a seventh-level ’Regeneration’ spell on him. Surely, his citizens and the Lord of the Silver Wheel won’t recognize the wrong Elf, right?"
The patrol captain was completely stupefied by this. Before he could even rack his brain for a compromise, the Elf crew mbers nearby imdiately knelt on one knee with their broken blades, declaring:
"We warmly welco Prince Saphistouin’s return to Dewensen territory.
"Dewensen welcos you.
"Congratulations to General Ahd!
"You will surely beco Dewensen’s hero and pride."
Ahd, fawned over by the group of Elves, suddenly felt as if he was waking from a dream and teared up on the spot. Before setting off from the New Continent, he had imagined returning with a Silver Dragon and becoming a hero. But he never expected to realize that mont through such a convoluted, dramatic fashion.
He, Ahd, could only be an imposter hero, one who couldn’t step into the light!
Watching his subordinates, who quickly capitulated, vying to suck up to the powerful, Otis, the patrol captain, collapsed to the ground.
It’s over...
He then threw himself at the teary-eyed Ahd like he was clutching at a lifeline. "General Ahd! Rember ? I’m Otis! The one who always brought you Elves... Ah!"
"Get lost!" Ahd kicked the despicable High Elf straight into the sea.
"Hey, it looks like an Elf fell into the water, save him! Quick, quick, quick." A group of Elf crew mbers reacted ’belatedly.’
David, gazing toward the New Continent’s coastline now in view, muttered to himself, "Tsk, it’s almost June. Aside from Century Aroma, there wouldn’t be many flowers left. Might as well add a touch of snow to set the mood."
Since his ruse was blown anyway, he no longer cared to hide it.
Who said smuggling had to be done secretly?
This ti, David decided to do it openly.
And to leave openly, too.
As he spoke to himself, he took off to the skies in full view of the astounded Elves, flew into the clouds, and let out a breath of icy chill.
The sky above Dewensen, already gloomy from drifting volcanic ash, imdiately thundered.
After a pause, the Elves along the coast were astonished to discover that in this month of June,
snow was actually beginning to fall!
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